Usually, when food dough is prepared by a manufacturing line, the system called a four-row line system is used for such a manufacturing line. It has a mechanism having a piston and cylinder. After the cylinder is filled with a block of bread dough, the block is rotated and cut into pieces that have predetermined sizes. As a result, a high pressure and a large shearing stress may be given to the bread dough, so that the structure of the gluten in the dough can be broken. To recover that structure a chemical additive and an overhead proofer are used. The proofer is used in a step that is carried out after the step for rolling the bread dough, so as to give it a rest, so that the structure can be recovered. Such an apparatus is large. The proofer is additional. Thus, the line that includes it is large. Thus, a small apparatus is desired. Also, it is desired that a high-quality bread be made.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-155464 discloses an apparatus for supplying food dough. It has a hopper to which a large block of food dough is supplied. Also, it has a cutter that is located below the lower opening of the hopper. The large block of the food dough that is supplied to the hopper is cut into pieces that have predetermined lengths and constant volumes. Those pieces are fed by a conveyor that is located below the cutter into a forming hopper. That hopper has a dough-feeder section that is comprised of a plurality of rollers that are arranged as a V. When the dough is supplied to that section, it is formed into a sheet by the plurality of the rollers of the dough feeder. Then, it is put on a conveyor that is located below the dough feeder, and transferred to a following apparatus to be processed by it.
The apparatus for supplying food dough allows a large block of food dough to be continuously formed as a sheet. Then, pieces of the dough are cut out from it. In that case, scraps of food dough may remain. They do not have any certain sizes and thus cannot usefully be used. Thus, it is desired that a system can usefully use the scraps to prevent them from being wasted.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 46-6932 and 60-110237 disclose an apparatus for cutting a dough sheet into pieces that have predetermined weights. It feeds a dough sheet along its length. Then, a weighing apparatus continuously measures the weight of the dough sheet as the sheet is being fed. When the weight corresponds to a predetermined value, a cutter is operated to cut the sheet into a piece of dough that has a predetermined weight. For example, the cutter is located in a facility for making bread or confectionery, and is used to prepare a piece of dough that has a predetermined weight.
The kind and shape of bread varies depending on the variations in taste. Thus, it is desired that an apparatus for preparing bread or confectionery make many kinds and various shapes of them.
The applicant of this application proposes some kinds of apparatuses for first forming food dough into a sheet of dough. Also, it proposes an apparatus for making some kinds of food products that are made from the sheet of dough after it is cut into pieces that have various weights according to the kinds of products. The prior-art apparatus only measures a narrow range of weights of the sheet of dough when it is cut into pieces. Thus, it is desired that it have a cutting apparatus that can measure a wider range of weights, so that many kinds of products can be made.
The kinds of weights and sizes of products that the conventional apparatus can make are few. Thus, an apparatus and method for cutting food dough is desired that can make products having various weights and sizes over a wide range.